Atypical
by Hibernian Princess
Summary: An Araluen maiden has expected to wed a knight...but what happens when she starts to think differently? No specific pairing, but WillxCassandra works well. Oneshot.


Atypical

Rated: G

A/N – I really don't know who this story is supposed to be about…I just kept thinking about it and FINALLY typed it up today. I think it kinda fits WillxCassandra, but I guess you can read it for WillxAlyss or HaltxPauline…use your imagination. Also, I appreciate reviews, but don't flame (obviously) and give reasons for any criticism. Let me know if you wanna hear the guy's point of view…this is mainly focused on the girl. And thanks for reading!!

DISCLAIMER: I don't own any of the Ranger's Apprentice characters, settings, etc. They all belong to the brilliant John Flanagan. I just enjoy writing about them.

Ever since she was a young girl, she had assumed that she would one day wed a knight—as did everyone around her. She had been a sociable, friendly child, always dreaming of how her knight would one day fight battles and win tournaments in her name. And after every battle, she would be waiting for him to sweep her up into his arms and kiss her with the kind of passion that only he could. After all, he _was_ her true love—unique, irreplaceable, and completely devoted to her. Yes, everyone she knew anticipated the day she would marry this charming fellow and ride off into the sunset, seated behind her knight on his noble steed.

But that day never came—and it never would come. You see, as she grew up, she began to wonder what it would be like to love someone that _wasn't _a knight. She was not overly fond of the attention that she knew she would get if she became attached to a knight—it was all rather overwhelming, what with the tournaments and balls. So she watched carefully, looking for exactly the right man, the one who would win her heart. He had to be handsome, of course, but also loving, gentlemanly, and intelligent. For months, she watched every man of every profession…and found nothing. That is, until she looked at the obvious.

The Rangers of Araluen were certainly not known for their romantic appeal. Yet it was that separation, that uniqueness that drove her to them. She was intrigued by their mysterious ways and longed to lose herself in the deep, intelligent eyes that hid inside the cowl of those infamous cloaks.

So that is exactly what she did with one of the young apprentice Rangers—she stared deeply into his eyes, looking for what she sought. What she did not expect was the clarity with which she saw everything. Life had never looked so perfect, so right, as it had in that moment when they first _truly_ looked at one another. At last, she saw that he was the one that she was supposed to love.

However, there was one thing that she had not thought about when she began courting him—his future profession and the time it would take from them. The love that they shared was deep and passionate, but even apprentice Rangers had many things to do—things that kept this apprentice from his beloved for months at a time. They both wanted things to be different, but they accepted their current situation, keeping their love alive through letters.

Time slipped by, and her dreams of marriage grew more vivid. She no longer wanted the glamour that came with attachment to a knight—she wanted to live a simple, quiet life with her beloved Ranger.

Soon enough, that is exactly what she got. It was not the extravagance that her family had wanted her to have since her birth, but she wouldn't have chosen to have it any other way. After all those years of waiting, she had found exactly what her heart had been longing for—the simplicity of being loved in solitude by a man who would be a mystery to the rest of the world, a man that only she could figure out. There was no mystery about knights; who they were and what they did was obvious to everyone with half a brain. It was this mystery, this challenge to everything she had grown up with that drove her to the man who was now her husband. She knew that his uniqueness would always satisfy her—and keep their life together interesting as well.

Yes, this was the right answer.


End file.
